Envelope assembly

ABSTRACT

A continuous envelope assembly including a plurality of outer envelopes having insert material therein. The insert material is aligned within the outer envelope and is not attached to the outer envelope.

I United States Patent [111 3,55

72 Inventors Leslie]. Bell 501 mu ofSearch 229/69, 10, 436 5. Elkhart St., Philadelphia, Pa. 73 19134, and Kenneth E. Rush, 11913 Academy Road, 1 References CM Philadelphia,Pa. 19154 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 pp 749,094 3,104,799 9/1963 Steidinger 229/69 1 Filed J y 31,1968 3,312,385 4/1967 Amort 229/73 [45] Patented Jan. 5, 1971 [54] EBEVELOPE ASSEMBLY 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. 229/69, 229/70, 229/73 [51 Int. B65d 27/10 3,337,120 8/1967 Steidinger 229/69X Primary Examiner-David M. Bockenek Attorney-Seidel & Gonda The insert material is aligned within the outer envelope and is not attached to the outer envelope.

PATENTEUJAN SIB?! 3552,6 11 SHEET 1 UF 3 INVENTO/PSI LESLIE J. BELL KENNETH E. RUSH y M/M ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJAN SIB?! 3,552,641

' SHEEI 2 0F 3 INVENTORS.

LESLIE J. BELL KENNETH E. RUSH Saw/M ATTORNEYS.

ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to an envelope assembly and more particularly, to an envelope assembly having loose insert material therein.

There is a substantial volume of massmailing of identical information to large numbers of people for various purposes. In many instances, it is desirable to send a return envelope to each person. The information within each envelope may be identical except as regard the name and address of the person receiving the material. Also, an account number may be utilized which will be different for each envelope.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an envelope assembly having loose insert material therein which is particularly adapted to be utilized in mass mailing information to large numbers of people.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stuffed envelope ready for mailing when addressed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stuffed envelope containing a return envelope therein and other insert sheets bearing informational printed matter.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The above objects are accomplished by providing an envelope assembly which includes top and bottom plies forming envelopes having insert material therebetween. The insert material within the envelope may be interconnected and provided with a single strip of control punching for aligning insert material with the outer envelope. Alternatively, each insert may be provided with identical control punching. A line of perforation is provided to permit easy separation of the insert material from the control punching. The top and bottom plies of the outer envelope are also provided with control punching on both sides thereof. The control punching on one side is removed prior to mailing the outer envelope.

The control punching on the plies of the outer envelope has a greater marginal edge than the control punching on the insert material. Hence, the outer envelope may be sealed along the marginal edge without sealing the insert material between the top and bottom plies of the outer envelope.

The control punching secured to the insert material may be wider than the insert material and may lie between a portion of the marginal edges of the top and bottom plies of the outer envelope. The outer envelope will be sealed around a majority of the periphery thereof. However, the outer envelope will not be sealed at the location where the control punching of the insert material lies between the marginal edges of the top and bottom plies of the outer envelope.

At the end of the envelope wherein the control punching has been removed prior to mailing, a line of weakening is provided in the top and bottom plies of the outer envelope to permit a portion of the outer envelope to be torn away by the addressee of the outer envelope to thereby expose the insert material. Thereafter, it is merely necessary to grip the insert material and pull the same to separate all insert material from its control punching and remove such insert material from the envelope. The sealed marginal edges of the outer envelope will prevent the control punching from being removed with the insert material. There may be various carbon spots on the insert material in order to transfer the name of the customer, date, return address, account number or any other similar information onto the various sheets of insert material.

Alternatively, the control punching attached to the insert material may be used for purposes of alignment only, and thereafter removed before the top and bottom plies of the outer envelope are sealed. It is to be understood that all insert material is loose within the outer envelope in both embodiments of the invention.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the envelope assembly of the present invention; A

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the envelope assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the insert material of the present invention; v

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the return envelope utilized in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the insert material of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a section view taken along line 77 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a partial fragmentary view of the envelope of the present invention with the top ply of the outer envelope removed.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, there is shown in FIGS. 1-9 an envelope assembly indicated generally by the reference numeral 10.

The envelope assembly includes a plurality ol intereou nected individual envelopes. Two such envelopes l1 aml I4 are illustrated in FIG. I. It is apparent that any number of envelopes may be provided in the assembly. Since each of the envelopes will be substantially identical, only envelope 12 will be discussed in detail. The individual envelopes 12 and 14 are interconnected along a perforation line 13. The individual envelopes l2 and 14 are easily separated by applying tension along perforation line 13. The perforation line 13 may be broken at two spaced points therealong so that the envelopes will remain interconnected until it is desired to separate the same.

The envelope 12 includes a top ply 16 and a bottom ply 18. Insert material 20 is housed between the top and bottom pliesv The top ply 16 has a line of control punching 22 on one end thereof connected thereto by a line of perforations 30. The other end of the top ply 16 has a control punching 24 thereon. The control punching includes a strip having equally spaced holes therealong. The control punching facilitates accurate alignment of the various elements of the envelope l2 and the insert material 20.

The bottom ply 18 has control punching 26 on one end thereof connected thereto by a line of perforations similar to the line of perforations 30 on the top ply 16. Control punching 28 is provided on the other end of the bottom ply 18. It is to be noted that both the top ply 16 and bottom ply 18 have enlarged marginal edges 34 and 36 which extend beyond the control punching to the outer edge of the envelope 12. The purpose of the enlarged marginal edges 34 and 36 will be made clear hereinafter. The control punching 22 and 26 are adapted to be separated from the envelope 12 prior to mailing the same to the addresseev The final envelope 12 is illustrated in FIG. 2 in an exploded view.

A line of perforations 32 is providedon the top ply l6 and a line of perforations 33 is provided on the bottom ply l8 spaced inwardly from the lefthand edgeof the envelope 12 as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2. The perforations 32 and 33 cooperate with the left-hand end of the envelope 12 to define one end portion 35. The perforations 32 and 33 are provided to facilitate removal of the end portion 35 to permit ready access to the contents of the envelope 12.

The top and bottom plies of the envelope-l2 are secured together by means of adhesive 38 around substantially the entire periphery of the top ply 16 and bottom ply 18.- However, as shown in FIG. 2, there is no adhesive adjacent the control punching 24 and 28 on the top and bottom plies 16 and 18, respectively. p

The insert material 20 includes a return envelope 40 and may include an informational sheet 42. Any desired number of informational sheets 42 may be provided. The envelope 40 includes a front sheet 44 and a back sheet 46. The front sheet 44 has control punching 48 secured thereto. The back sheet 46 has control punching 50 secured thereto. Alternatively, a single strip of control punching could be secured to either the front or back sheet of the envelope 40. The envelope 40 is formed by providing adhesive 52 along three edges of the back sheet 46.

The back sheet 46 is provided with a projecting tab 54. The tab 54 has a pressure-sensitive adhesive thereon. A cover strip 58 may be provided to protect the pressure-sensitive adhesive 56 and to prevent such adhesive from drying out,

The informational sheet 42 may be provided with control punching similar to control punching 48 and 50 or may be provided with spaced gobs of adhesive 60 and secured to the envelope 40. The informational sheet 42 will be easily separable from the envelope 40.

As is conventional, carbon spots 62 may be provided on the inner surface of the top ply 16 of the envelope 12. The carbon spots may transfer information from the front face of the top ply 16 to the insert material 20. In practice, it may prove desirable to attach the information sheet 42 to the top of the envelope 40 and transfer information by use of carbon spots on the informational sheet 42 to the envelope 40. The carbon spots may be used as desired to transfer information such as account numbers, dates. etc., onto the various insert sheets.

The control punching is secured to the insert material 20 and facilitates accurate alignment of the insert material 20 within the outer envelope 12. As can be readily seen, the control punching secured to the insert material 20 extends beyond the material 20 and the inserts and control punching have the general shape of a T. The arms of the T extend to the peripheral edges of the envelope 12 as is clearly shown in FIG. 9. The control punching secured to the insert material is not attached to the outer envelope 12. Hence, the inserts are loose within the envelope 12.

As noted above, the adhesive 38 does not extend around the entire periphery of the plies 16 and 18. There is no adhesive adjacent to the control punching 24 and 28 of the top and bottom plies 16 and 18, respectively. The adhesive 38 interconnects the plies 16 and 18 beyond the control punching 24 and 28 along the enlarged marginal edges 34 and 36. Accordingly, all the insert material 20 is free within the outer envelope. However, the control punching secured to the insert material 20 is restrained from movement with the insert material by the closed plies 16 and 18 secured together by adhesive 38.

Accordingly, when an addresseereceives the envelope 12, it is merely necessary to open the envelope 12 by removing the end portion 35 thereof. Removal of the end portion 35 is facilitated by the perforation lines 32 and 33. Upon removal of the end 35, portion of the projecting tab 54 will project from the remainder of the envelope 12. Suitable printed matter may be provided on the cover strip 58 advising the addressee to pull the projecting tab 54. Upon pulling the tab 54 all of the insert material will be removed from the envelope 12. The insert material will separate from the control punching because the control stripping will be restrained from movement by the interconnected plies 16 and 18 and adhesive 38 between the plies 16 and 18 of the envelope 12. The manner in which the control punching separates from the insert material 20 is illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawing. As shown in FIG. 6, the front sheet 44 is connected to the control punching at spaced points and is readily separable therefrom.

After the insert material is removed from the outer envelope 12, the informational sheet or a number of informational sheets 42 may be separated from the return envelope by merely pulling the same apart. Alternatively, each informational sheet could be secured to a strip of control punching. All inserts would also separate from the control punching when pulled from the outer envelope 12. Normally, an addressee will further facilitate rapid separation of the insert material from its control punching since an addressee will normally placed therein and may be readily sealed by removing the.

cover strip 58 and folding over the tab 54 to seal the envelope. A crease or scoreline may be provided adjacent the adhesive 56 to facilitate folding the tab 54.

In an alternative embodiment, the control punching on the insert material may be removed after the insert material has been properly aligned on the bottom'ply 18. The control punching can then be removed from the insert material and the top ply 16 sealed around its entire perimeter to the bottom ply 18. In this alternative embodiment all of the insert material will be loose within the outer envelope 12 as in the preferred embodiment. I

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof.

We claim:

1. An assembly including a series of envelopes having superimposed plies defining tops and bottoms of individual outer envelopes, insert materials lying-between said plies, said individual outer envelopes being delimited by perforation lines facilitating separation of said individual envelopes, means secured to said insert materials for accurately aligning said insert materials within said individual envelopes between said plies, means sealing ,the superimposed plies of said outer envelopes about a substantial portion of the periphery of said.

plies, said plies being unsealed only at and immediately adjacent said aligning means on said insert materials so that said insert materials are wholly unsecured to said outer envelope, the periphery of said insert materials being spaced inwardly from the periphery of said plies except at said aligning means, at least a portion of said aligning means on said materials extending to the.periphery of said plies, saidaligning means on said insert material including control punching secured at spaced points to said insert material, said control punching comprising a strip having equally spaced openings therealong, said plies having control means thereon comprising a plurality of equally spaced openings, the openings in said control punching on said insert material being aligned with the openings in said control means on said plies, the distance from the openings in the control punching removably secured to said insert materials to the free edge of the control punching is substantially less than the distance from the openings in the control means on said plies to the closest substantially parallel sealed edge of said outer envelope to thereby permit said insert materials to be free from securement to said outer envelope, and means for separating said aligning means and .said insert materials upon removal of said insert materials from said outer envelope.

2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said insert materials include a return envelope and at least one further sheet having informational printed matter thereon, one of said envelope and sheet having said aligning means secured thereto, said plies have lines of perforations thereon cooperating to define a tear-away portion of said outer envelope, said return envelope having a projecting tab, said tab projecting beyond the lines of perforations defining said tear-away portion of said outer envelope. 

1. An assembly including a series of envelopes having superimposed plies defining tops and bottoms of individual outer envelopes, insert materials lying between said plies, said individual outer envelopes being delimited by perforation lines facilitating separation of said individual envelopes, means secured to said insert materials for accurately aligning said insert materials within said individual envelopes between said plies, means sealing the superimposed plies of said outer envelopes about a substantial portion of the periphery of said plies, said plies being unsealed only at and immediately adjacent said aligning means on said insert materials so that said insert materials are wholly unsecured to said outer envelope, the periphery of said insert materials being spaced inwardly from the periphery of said plies except at said aligning means, at least a portion of said aligning means on said materials extending to the periphery of said plies, said aligning means on said insert material including control punching secured at spaced points to said insert material, said control punching comprising a strip having equally spaced openings therealong, said plies having control means thereon comprising a plurality of equally spaced openings, the openings in said control punching on said insert material being aligned with the openings in said control means on said plies, the distance from the openings in the control punching removably secured to said insert materials to the free edge of the control punching is substantially less than the distance from the openings in the control means on said plies to the closest substantially parallel sealed edge of said outer envelope to thereby permit said insert materials to be free from securement to said outer envelope, and means for separating said aligning means and said insert materials upon removal of said insert materials from said outer envelope.
 2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said insert materials include a return envelope and at least one further sheet having informational printed matter thereon, one of sAid envelope and sheet having said aligning means secured thereto, said plies have lines of perforations thereon cooperating to define a tear-away portion of said outer envelope, said return envelope having a projecting tab, said tab projecting beyond the lines of perforations defining said tear-away portion of said outer envelope. 